The pups were frozen again, just as they had been when the vase had broken, their bodies still while their minds were racing to think of what to do, what to say, how to explain things.

“Hope you guys weren’t too bored,” they heard Mister Migs continue, and then the sound of the door shutting behind him as he came inside. He did not shut the door particularly hard, but he didn’t have to, for the poorly-patched-together vase was so fragile that the vibrations from the closing door were more than enough to make it topple in on itself. When Mister Migs entered the room a moment later, it was once again nothing but a pile of porcelain pieces.
“Oh no! Did I do this?” Mister Migs exclaimed as soon as he saw the mess.
“Um, yes!” Louey blurted.

“The door shutting knocked it over!” added MiMee

“Oh no, oh no,” Mister Migs tugged on his own ears, “What will I do? What should I do?”

“Um…” said Daisy.

“I think,” said Sadie Lynn in a pointed tone, looking at the others rather than at Mister Migs, “That you should come clean. Tell the truth. Don’t let anyone else take the blame.”

The others understood her implication, but Mister Migs, of course, missed it and still thought she was speaking to him. He nodded, “Yes, of course. I’ll go tell Mom. She’s still unloading things in the garage; I should do it before she comes in and sees for herself.”

With a long, heavy sigh, he turned and began to slowly walk back towards the door with his head hung low.

“Well neither do we!” Daisy argued back, “MiMee and I had nothing to do with that vase, but we’ll probably get the blame just for being here! You and Louey are the ones that broke it, why should we share your punishment?”

“Because ALL of us are at fault,” said Sadie Lynn, “Louey and I for breaking the vase, and MiMee and Daisy for trying to hide what happened. We should all come forward together, especially since if we don’t…”

She nodded in the direction that Mister Migs was dejectedly slinking off in, walking as slowly as possible, as if on his way to the vet.